MONDAY, MAY 8, 2023
CHRISTIANITY / BIBLE / ACTS
The second in a series: The sermons of the Apostles in the book of Acts. Today's excerpt is Peter and John preaching after healing a lame man at the temple.
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time for prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called “the Beautiful Gate” every day so he could beg for money from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked directly at him (as did John) and said, “Look at us!” So the lame man paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, stand up and walk!” Then Peter took hold of him by the right hand and raised him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. He jumped up, stood and began walking around, and he entered the temple courts with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement at what had happened to him.
While the man was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway called Solomon’s Portico. When Peter saw this, he declared to the people,
“Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this?
Why do you stare at us as if we had made this man walk by our own power or piety?
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate after he had decided to release him.
But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you.
You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses!
And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ name, his very name has made this man—whom you see and know—strong.
The faith that is through Jesus has given him this complete health in the presence of you all.
And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did too.
But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets—that his Christ would suffer—he has fulfilled in this way.
Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you—that is, Jesus.
This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets.
Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey him in everything he tells you.
Every person who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed from the people.’
And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days.
You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’
God raised up his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your iniquities.”
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, angry because they were teaching the people and announcing in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. So they seized them and put them in jail until the next day (for it was already evening). But many of those who had listened to the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000.
On the next day, their rulers, elders, and experts in the law came together in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. After making Peter and John stand in their midst, they began to inquire, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied,
“Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man—by what means this man was healed— let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy.
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this. But when they had ordered them to go outside the council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign has come about through them, and we cannot deny it. But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” And they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied,
“Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you decide, for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened. For the man, on whom this miraculous sign of healing had been performed, was over forty years old.
- Acts 3 & 4 New English Translation
https://netbible.org/bible/Acts+3
Commentary:
The message of this second sermon found in the book of Acts is very simple and straightforward: Jesus was sent to bring salvation to all mankind, and there is no other name that can be substituted for his. But to receive this gift of salvation, you must repent of your sins and accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Notice what Peter does not say: "Jesus died for your sins." It's implied, but not stated, nor will you ever find that phrase in the book of Acts. Rather, the emphasis is on Jesus coming to earth and being resurrected from the dead. Jesus does have the power to forgive you your sins, but you must repent of your sins first.
Understand that "repent" means simply stop sinning. Sadly, in this day and age, it has come to mean feeling sorry for your sins, which is a good thing, but that's not what repentance is. True repentance is cessation of sin. If you believe in Jesus, but don't want to stop sinning, then you are no more a Christian than the devil himself, no matter how sorry you are.
It's also important to realize that there was no cessation of signs and wonders after Jesus left earth and went back to heaven. The miracles continued, thanks to the impartation of the Holy Spirit. It's very obvious that these signs were to continue.
For some odd reason, many people think that miracles ceased soon after the deaths of the apostles, but that's simply isn't true, nor is biblical. Miracles may have become less frequent, but at no time have they ever ceased entirely. I've seen several miracles myself, and know of a whole bunch of people who can testify of their own miracles.
In looking at Church history, one can plainly see that Christians began living by their wits rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit. The faith was soon rationalized, and that rationalization continues to the present day. Philosophy and logic replaced the power of God in a believer's life. It got so bad that during the most mis-named period in all of history, "The Enlightenment", belief in miracles all but disappeared, as almost all aspects of spiritual life were totally rationalized, to the point where even the miracles in reported in the Bible were scoffed at...by Christians!
Despite what we "intellectuals" believe or think, both Jesus and the apostles regularly used signs and wonders in their ministries, and did so quite successfully. Thanks to the miracle of the lame man regaining his strength, 5,000 people put their faith in Jesus in a single day. And let's remember, and never, ever forget, that the signature "sign and wonder" of the entire Bible was Jesus being raised from the dead. The most important thing that Jesus ever did was his greatest miracle.
- Pseudo Boethius